Archive for July 2008
July 30, 2008 | 
Author 
Jerome Dsouza asked:
Guess What?
You can actually profit from free advertising.
But the word ‘profit’ here is in a gain of some kind which may not necessarily be money itself but that which can ultimately be used towards the getting of money.
To profit in this way free advertising has to be viewed from a perspective other than that of only getting sales and sign ups. For when viewed from this different angle, many free advertising resources lend themselves rather well to freely finding out some very important aspects of your advertising; aspects that you can leverage to really achieve your ultimate goal of sales and sign-ups.
Some of the aspects revealed could be feedback (indirect) of the opportunity you are promoting, response-data of the ad-headlines and ad-copy you use, general info about where and to whom you
target your ads to, etc.
One of the best ways to arrive at this data that will lead to more effective advertising is by using some form of tracking. Since this article is about profiting from free advertising, the tracking too will have to be done using free tracking resources.
Now imagine posting a free ad somewhere with a tracking link in it and the results show just one single click. How much info so you think that one single tracked click reveal?
Well this may seem like making a mountain out of a very tiny molehill but that one click could quite possibly be testifying to many facts such as…
1. That particular free ad resource HAS live viewers,
2. That those viewers are interested in the niche your ad relates to,
3. That they want more info and will make efforts to get it,
4. That your ad-headline was attractive enough to stop them,
5. That your ad-copy was motivating enough to induce action,
Now isn’t this data revealing enough to consider re-posting your ad in that area or maybe upgrading it to paid so that it is exposed to more viewers and then the law of averages works to get you those
sales and or sign-ups?
If just one tracking element in the affiliate link could lead you to real profit probabilities what would free ad resources which offer free tracking on multiple levels reveal?
If one looks around there are free ad resources that incorporate various levels of tracking though they don’t publicise this openly. You need to find out what and how you can use the data to your advantage. For example, some free advertising resources display only your ad-headlines; If the headline can snag a prospect to click and find out more about your opportunity you get to know about it.
This can be a nifty free way of testing headlines.
Others indicate how often your ad-copy was viewed. In this case, if you have implemented link tracking, the number of times your link was clicked upon compared to the number of times the ad was viewed will reveal how compelling your ad-copy is. Â
Many traffic exchanges offer text ads and banner ads. They usually also offer ad results such as number of views/impressions received and number of clickthrus achieved. Since we are dealing with text advertising the text ads here become one more way to test your ad headlines.
Generally you get to post about 5 fre text ads so with a little effort one could come up with 5 different headlines for the same opportunity and by alloting an equal number of impression to all one could find out the headline that has the best promise. For Free!
To summarize, there is a kind of profit to be gained from posting free ads if the resource you are using for your free ads also offers free stats. Of course, having your own tracking link in the url will add to your data and there are many free tracking services to use and benefit from.
So the next time you post a free ad don’t waste it just because it is free, do it wisely and it could lead to some very profitable conclusions.
Create a video blog…instantly.
Guess What?
You can actually profit from free advertising.
But the word ‘profit’ here is in a gain of some kind which may not necessarily be money itself but that which can ultimately be used towards the getting of money.
To profit in this way free advertising has to be viewed from a perspective other than that of only getting sales and sign ups. For when viewed from this different angle, many free advertising resources lend themselves rather well to freely finding out some very important aspects of your advertising; aspects that you can leverage to really achieve your ultimate goal of sales and sign-ups.
Some of the aspects revealed could be feedback (indirect) of the opportunity you are promoting, response-data of the ad-headlines and ad-copy you use, general info about where and to whom you
target your ads to, etc.
One of the best ways to arrive at this data that will lead to more effective advertising is by using some form of tracking. Since this article is about profiting from free advertising, the tracking too will have to be done using free tracking resources.
Now imagine posting a free ad somewhere with a tracking link in it and the results show just one single click. How much info so you think that one single tracked click reveal?
Well this may seem like making a mountain out of a very tiny molehill but that one click could quite possibly be testifying to many facts such as…
1. That particular free ad resource HAS live viewers,
2. That those viewers are interested in the niche your ad relates to,
3. That they want more info and will make efforts to get it,
4. That your ad-headline was attractive enough to stop them,
5. That your ad-copy was motivating enough to induce action,
Now isn’t this data revealing enough to consider re-posting your ad in that area or maybe upgrading it to paid so that it is exposed to more viewers and then the law of averages works to get you those
sales and or sign-ups?
If just one tracking element in the affiliate link could lead you to real profit probabilities what would free ad resources which offer free tracking on multiple levels reveal?
If one looks around there are free ad resources that incorporate various levels of tracking though they don’t publicise this openly. You need to find out what and how you can use the data to your advantage. For example, some free advertising resources display only your ad-headlines; If the headline can snag a prospect to click and find out more about your opportunity you get to know about it.
This can be a nifty free way of testing headlines.
Others indicate how often your ad-copy was viewed. In this case, if you have implemented link tracking, the number of times your link was clicked upon compared to the number of times the ad was viewed will reveal how compelling your ad-copy is. Â
Many traffic exchanges offer text ads and banner ads. They usually also offer ad results such as number of views/impressions received and number of clickthrus achieved. Since we are dealing with text advertising the text ads here become one more way to test your ad headlines.
Generally you get to post about 5 fre text ads so with a little effort one could come up with 5 different headlines for the same opportunity and by alloting an equal number of impression to all one could find out the headline that has the best promise. For Free!
To summarize, there is a kind of profit to be gained from posting free ads if the resource you are using for your free ads also offers free stats. Of course, having your own tracking link in the url will add to your data and there are many free tracking services to use and benefit from.
So the next time you post a free ad don’t waste it just because it is free, do it wisely and it could lead to some very profitable conclusions.
Create a video blog…instantly.
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Ian Williamson asked:
In order to create the most effective ad for your business, you will need to test different versions of your copy and track the effectiveness of where you advertise. Experiment by changing the copy, tweaking the looks, rearranging the layout and testing where you place your ad.
Changing The Copy
Try several different headings for your ad. Just a one word change may have a significant effect on the response rate. Test different versions of your copy to find the most effective wording.
Tweaking The Looks
Change the font style, font sizes, and font colors. Emphasize important words and phrases by placing them in italics, making them bold, changing their color, and highlighting them. Add a border, a different border color and/ or a different border style. Try different combinations of these and find out which combination works best.
Rearranging The Layout
Rearrange the components of your ad to see if it affects the response rate. Add a short testimonial or two to see if that has any effect. Try adding more than one call to action link.
Testing The Placement
Track and test the response rate for your ad. An ad in one e-zine may result in 100 clicks while an ad in another may only result in 50. You will want to know where you get the best response for your advertising dollars.
You will want to track your ads for these four reasons:
1. To save money.
If you know where you get the best response from, you won’t waste money by advertising on places where you get a poor return.
2. To maximize your profit.
While advertising on one place may bring you a better response than advertising on another, you need to take into account the cost of each ad. If you get 200 responses from one advertising source but each response costs you $4.00, it may be better to advertise on a place where you get 100 responses that only cost $1.00 each.
3. To improve your ads.
By testing different versions of your ad, you will find the most effective one. To obtain a true test of a particular ad, you will need to know how may people were shown your ad, how many people acted on your ad, and the result of that action. (For example, your ad was shown to 1000 people of which 100 clicked on your ad link and 2 bought your product.)
4. To find out what works and what doesn’t.
You will want to know what components of your ad work and which don’t. You can only find this out by tracking different versions of your ad.
While knowing how many people click on your ad and how many sales you make is important, you will want to know how much each click and sale actually costs you. In order to maximize your Return On Investment (ROI) you should monitor the following:
1. How many unique visitors each ad or promotion generates.
2. The number of sales each ad or promotion generates.
3. Which ad or promotion generates the most traffic to your website.
4. The Cost Per Click and Cost Per Sale of each ad or promotion.
5. The Click to Sales Ratio which will show you the quality of the traffic you’re getting.
6. The ROI for each ad or promotion.
You will also want to track where your traffic is coming from. You may get traffic from an e-zine ad, from a forum post and from a banner ad. One of these sources may bring you a significant amount of traffic while another brings you little or no traffic at all. By tracking every ad and promotion you place, you will find out where to direct your advertising efforts, thereby saving you both time and money.
Only about 1% of your competitors track their traffic sources. By tracking your ads, you will gain an advantage over 99% of your competitors. At the same time, you will boost your bottom line as you will no longer be wasting money on useless advertising.
Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress
In order to create the most effective ad for your business, you will need to test different versions of your copy and track the effectiveness of where you advertise. Experiment by changing the copy, tweaking the looks, rearranging the layout and testing where you place your ad.
Changing The Copy
Try several different headings for your ad. Just a one word change may have a significant effect on the response rate. Test different versions of your copy to find the most effective wording.
Tweaking The Looks
Change the font style, font sizes, and font colors. Emphasize important words and phrases by placing them in italics, making them bold, changing their color, and highlighting them. Add a border, a different border color and/ or a different border style. Try different combinations of these and find out which combination works best.
Rearranging The Layout
Rearrange the components of your ad to see if it affects the response rate. Add a short testimonial or two to see if that has any effect. Try adding more than one call to action link.
Testing The Placement
Track and test the response rate for your ad. An ad in one e-zine may result in 100 clicks while an ad in another may only result in 50. You will want to know where you get the best response for your advertising dollars.
You will want to track your ads for these four reasons:
1. To save money.
If you know where you get the best response from, you won’t waste money by advertising on places where you get a poor return.
2. To maximize your profit.
While advertising on one place may bring you a better response than advertising on another, you need to take into account the cost of each ad. If you get 200 responses from one advertising source but each response costs you $4.00, it may be better to advertise on a place where you get 100 responses that only cost $1.00 each.
3. To improve your ads.
By testing different versions of your ad, you will find the most effective one. To obtain a true test of a particular ad, you will need to know how may people were shown your ad, how many people acted on your ad, and the result of that action. (For example, your ad was shown to 1000 people of which 100 clicked on your ad link and 2 bought your product.)
4. To find out what works and what doesn’t.
You will want to know what components of your ad work and which don’t. You can only find this out by tracking different versions of your ad.
While knowing how many people click on your ad and how many sales you make is important, you will want to know how much each click and sale actually costs you. In order to maximize your Return On Investment (ROI) you should monitor the following:
1. How many unique visitors each ad or promotion generates.
2. The number of sales each ad or promotion generates.
3. Which ad or promotion generates the most traffic to your website.
4. The Cost Per Click and Cost Per Sale of each ad or promotion.
5. The Click to Sales Ratio which will show you the quality of the traffic you’re getting.
6. The ROI for each ad or promotion.
You will also want to track where your traffic is coming from. You may get traffic from an e-zine ad, from a forum post and from a banner ad. One of these sources may bring you a significant amount of traffic while another brings you little or no traffic at all. By tracking every ad and promotion you place, you will find out where to direct your advertising efforts, thereby saving you both time and money.
Only about 1% of your competitors track their traffic sources. By tracking your ads, you will gain an advantage over 99% of your competitors. At the same time, you will boost your bottom line as you will no longer be wasting money on useless advertising.
Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress
Andi Wize asked:
It’s no secret that there’s a lot of money involved with affiliate marketing. This is only true however, for those who are serious and hard working on their affiliate program. The biggest part of succeeding depends on your perseverance and determination.
Even the best of affiliate programs won’t prosper if you don’t build the business on a solid foundation. Nothing happens if the banners and links you place on a website just decorates the pages. The affiliate must convince visitors to click on the banner or link then proceed to the program to buy products.
Affiliate marketing can be easy if you have planned your campaign well and have taken the right steps towards success. Choosing the right product and designing your website with banners and the right material are keys to making things happen.
An ad tracker is a software program that will allow you to trace and monitor every click that is made by visitors through your referral link. To make things even better, you know exactly where you placed the link. You can either use a service provider or purchase ad tracking software.
With ad trackers, you can monitor the progress of your campaigns, even advertising offline. If you have several affiliate accounts, this tool can be very good to have.
Each and every decision you make should be well grounded in facts. By using an ad tracker, you’ll be able to generate traffic reports for your personal sales page. Armed with the proper knowledge and an ad tracking software program, you’ll have no problems succeeding in the affiliate marketing world. It can be tough to get started – although once you start making money you’ll be glad you took the chance!
Caffeinated Content
It’s no secret that there’s a lot of money involved with affiliate marketing. This is only true however, for those who are serious and hard working on their affiliate program. The biggest part of succeeding depends on your perseverance and determination.
Even the best of affiliate programs won’t prosper if you don’t build the business on a solid foundation. Nothing happens if the banners and links you place on a website just decorates the pages. The affiliate must convince visitors to click on the banner or link then proceed to the program to buy products.
Affiliate marketing can be easy if you have planned your campaign well and have taken the right steps towards success. Choosing the right product and designing your website with banners and the right material are keys to making things happen.
An ad tracker is a software program that will allow you to trace and monitor every click that is made by visitors through your referral link. To make things even better, you know exactly where you placed the link. You can either use a service provider or purchase ad tracking software.
With ad trackers, you can monitor the progress of your campaigns, even advertising offline. If you have several affiliate accounts, this tool can be very good to have.
Each and every decision you make should be well grounded in facts. By using an ad tracker, you’ll be able to generate traffic reports for your personal sales page. Armed with the proper knowledge and an ad tracking software program, you’ll have no problems succeeding in the affiliate marketing world. It can be tough to get started – although once you start making money you’ll be glad you took the chance!
Caffeinated Content